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Chiltern Railways

Started by 2206, August 21, 2015, 01:33:28 AM

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midlandred2003

Quote from: Tony on April 06, 2025, 08:46:38 PMNext Sunday Birmingham City are playing at Wembley.

It looks like Chiltern have decided not to carry any passengers all day between Birmingham and Warwick Parkway. It seems all trains are running empty stock between Moor Street and Warwick Parkway.

This seems a very odd decision especially at times when football fans won't even be travelling
Yes Tony it's a disgusting decision I was planning to travel to Wembley from Cradley Heath, I have had to change my plans and use national express instead..

Gareth

Quote from: Tony on April 06, 2025, 08:46:38 PMNext Sunday Birmingham City are playing at Wembley.

It looks like Chiltern have decided not to carry any passengers all day between Birmingham and Warwick Parkway. It seems all trains are running empty stock between Moor Street and Warwick Parkway.

This seems a very odd decision especially at times when football fans won't even be travelling
Yes, it's a pain in the backside. I'm traveling to London on Thursday and back on Sunday. Chiltern is always my first choice of train travel to London so I'll now have to decide whether to buy a single each way on separate operators or travel both to and from Euston. At also an added cost if I choose Avanti.

Budgie

https://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/vertutrophy

If they are doing what is suggested (at least hinted at) dedicating all available rolling stock to run longer units between Warwick Parkway and London, it could be argued to be the best use of very limited resources.  (Trains can be rammed after a Wembley match as it is). Especially with free parking at Warwick Parkway, Leamington and Banbury. 

Trains should be able to cross tracks pretty easy near Warwick Parkway so no need to run empty for long distances. 

A pain for so many other people though.  Be good if for people like Gareth if ticket acceptance on Avanti on Sunday was allowed due to the lack of a service but that's asking too much I guess.  Re the timings, the suggestion is fans will be setting of and returning at different times.


cardew

Problem is how to get to Warwick parkway from Birmingham without a car and, it seems, no trains

Grabbed a Flixbus down, NX back. 15 quid.

Tony

Quote from: Budgie on April 08, 2025, 11:27:18 AMhttps://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/vertutrophy

If they are doing what is suggested (at least hinted at) dedicating all available rolling stock to run longer units between Warwick Parkway and London, it could be argued to be the best use of very limited resources.  (Trains can be rammed after a Wembley match as it is). Especially with free parking at Warwick Parkway, Leamington and Banbury.

Trains should be able to cross tracks pretty easy near Warwick Parkway so no need to run empty for long distances.

A pain for so many other people though.  Be good if for people like Gareth if ticket acceptance on Avanti on Sunday was allowed due to the lack of a service but that's asking too much I guess.  Re the timings, the suggestion is fans will be setting of and returning at different times.


TRains are all running empty to Birmingham Moor Street to return. All the timings are in Real Time Trains

2206

#140
Quote from: cardew on April 08, 2025, 11:44:14 AMProblem is how to get to Warwick parkway from Birmingham without a car and, it seems, no trains

Grabbed a Flixbus down, NX back. 15 quid.
Can you get the Bournemouth XC service to Leamington from New Street?

Looking at Real Time trains it looks like it is running short to Eastleigh on Sunday as well. Then again the 19:07 one I've seen out of New Street always seems to be rammed all the time. 
Local Routes
94/95, 11A/11C, 28.

cardew

Quote from: 2206 on April 08, 2025, 12:44:07 PMCan you get the Bournemouth XC service to Leamington from New Street?

Looking at Real Time trains it looks like it is running short to Eastleigh on Sunday as well. Then again the 19:07 one I've seen out of New Street always seems to be rammed all the time.
Fair point. Mind you with the hassle a mate had with XC weekend driver shortages last Saturday its probably safer to stick with the coach.

Westy

How much notice was given?

Would a shuttle bus from Brum to Warwick Parkway have worked?

cardew

Quote from: Westy on April 08, 2025, 04:06:27 PMHow much notice was given?

To give them their due, they announced it about a month ago.

Gareth

Quote from: Westy on April 08, 2025, 04:06:27 PMHow much notice was given?

Would a shuttle bus from Brum to Warwick Parkway have worked?
It was announced quite a while  ago. Shuttle buses are pointless. They could have just run the trains from Birmingham.

Budgie

Looks like Chiltern are (almost) repeating what they did for the Birmingham final on the Aston Villa semi final day.  Matters more to me this time as I'm attending the match. My mates have already decided it's the car for them to London outskirts.  I'm still favouring the train though.

Stu

#146
Quote from: Budgie on April 19, 2025, 10:51:07 AMLooks like Chiltern are (almost) repeating what they did for the Birmingham final on the Aston Villa semi final day.  Matters more to me this time as I'm attending the match. My mates have already decided it's the car for them to London outskirts.  I'm still favouring the train though.
You can get London Northwestern train from New Street to Euston, then get the tube to Wembley Park. (from Euston Square)
My locals:
2 - Birmingham to Maypole | 3 - Birmingham to Yardley Wood
11A/C - Birmingham Outer Circle | 27 - Yardley Wood to Frankley
76 - Solihull to QE Hospital | 169 - Solihull to Kings Heath

West Midlands Bus Users: Website | Facebook | X/Twitter | Bluesky

Tony

Quote from: Stu on April 19, 2025, 11:36:10 AMYou can get London Northwestern train from New Street to Euston, then get the tube to Wembley Park. (from Euston Square)

Or even change at Milton Keynes and Watford junction to Wembley central 

Wumpty

I went to Wembley for Walsall v AFC Wimbledon match.

Planned the following route for £47.80:

10.39hrs Wolverhampton (Cross Country)  
11.54hrs Banbury

Train absolutely rammed with a 2-train set. Only seats left in the rear set were the first class seats which the conductor told us to sit in! His overriding concern was minimising standing passengers where possible and extremely grateful for it!

12.08hrs Banbury (Chiltern Railways)
13.11 Wembley Stadium

Obscenely overcrowded and very concerning. We knew it would be a gamble but couldn't believe how many people were being crammed onto the train. I've always said that trains need a designated standing capacity, though appreciate how hard it would be to apply and police.

17.42hrs Wembley Stadium (Chiltern Railways)
19.04hrs Birmingham Moor Street

As Walsall did us no favours, we left early and caught the 17.12hrs Stourbridge Junction service - very impressed with the logistics at Wembley Stadium - plenty of barriers funnelling passengers to the right platform, clear comms and very helpful station staff. We got table seats and pleasantly surprised with the accommodation, though felt very dated.

 

Autofare 3 - the ticket that laughs in the face of contactless!

Isle of Stroma

I wandered down to High Wycombe on Saturday 17th for the Private Flyer event at Wycombe Air Park:

I chose to go down slightly earlier than planned on the 07:14 from Moor Street as it's booked for one of the Loco + Coach sets, with 68013 providing the sound effects & doing the honours of shoving us down to Princes Risborough. Loading was fairly light & I sat in the middle of the rear Mk.3, the ride quality was impeccable. Just enough time at PR for a quick off-station smoke & a snap of 50008 on a Rail tour before that left & most definitely out-performed me in the smokescreen department. A lightly loaded pair of 2-car 165's on the 08:51 then provided the smooth & short hop to High Wycombe.

Airframe photos acquired, I was back in High Wycombe just after 2pm for a short Merc Citaro hop to grab a pint in the 'Spoon's, soaking up the sun in the 'beer garden' along with hordes of Man City fans taking advantage of dirt cheap pints & dirt-cheap parking at the Station multi-storey (Apparently it's £12 a pint in Wembley? :shocked: ). 

The plan then was to stop off for a couple of hours or so in Banbury before taking the 19:10 Loco-hauled set back to Brum. A pair of well-loaded 168's on the 15:28 did the first leg, a little warm inside perhaps, but then I was sat in direct sunlight. After a quick stroll around Banbury, I parked up in the 'Spoon's there to watch the FA Cup, poor real ale availability (maybe other Man City fans had already drunk the place dry?), so I had to go for a back-up Cider.

At half time, I mooched on Real time Trains & was gutted to find that the loco-hauled set had been swapped for a 4-car 168 (don't know if it was for maintenance reasons or if it was being held over later to take the p!ssed & p!ssed-off Man City fans back north), so made my way back to the Station intending to catch the 17:58 Cross-Country Manchester service to Birmingham International. 

Of course, this swung around the corner as the expected 4-car bulging hellhole that Branson's mob inflicted on us, with a couple of dozen poor souls adding to the onboard misery, so I held station for the following 18:10 Chiltern service back to Moor Street, 7 cars of half-loaded Class 168 bliss in comparison to the XC Toyager.

Cost? a reasonable £33.90 for a Lea Hall - High Wycombe flexible day return valid via either Coventry or Birmingham, + £5 for the zone A Carousel Buses day ticket.

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